For all of the unexpected in this Class 5A baseball postseason, particularly when considering the new names and faces, and programs making their first real runs at a championship to comprise an unusual list of teams remaining, there is no denying the following:
Evan Anundsen and the Columbine Rebels are in command of the 5A championship series heading into the final weekend.
Behind Anundsen’s dominant pitching and hitting, and a lineup that doesn’t appear to have an out in it, Columbine downed Chaparral on Saturday at All-City Field in a 1-hour, 23-minute blur, 11-1 in five innings.
The Rebels seemed to have things in hand, leading 4-1 in bottom of the fifth and waiting for Anundsen to cap his ninth victory. Then it turned into a rout with a walk and seven consecutive hits – all with two outs.
It came on the heels of a 15-2 whipping Friday of defending state champion Grand Junction.
“We started crushing the ball,” Rebels catcher C.J. Gillman said. “We’re in a good spot for next week. We have to get beat twice now. Everybody’s doing it. Geez, I don’t even know what to say.”
Rebels coach Chuck Gillman had the opportunity to basically rest Anundsen from Friday – the right-hander had to go only three innings in the previous round – and cited it as the difference.
“A lot of teams have had to go real deep in their pitching staffs,” coach Gillman said. “By 10-running that team (Friday), it changed the format for us.”
Columbine improved to 17-7 and will face Monarch (20-4) on Friday. For Chaparral (18-5), it will be Mountain Vista (15-9).
Anundsen cruised against the Wolverines. He allowed just three hits, struck out eight and never was in serious trouble. He also picked off a Chaparral runner at first base for the final out in the third with a runner at second.
Anundsen’s towering solo home run to center field in the bottom of the second got the Rebels rolling. Three batters later, first baseman Curtis Cunningham ripped a homer to left field as Columbine took control. It added another in the third on a double by Anundsen – who was a triple shy of the cycle – and a run-scoring single by John Fink.
Despite surrendering a run in the fifth, the Rebels appeared to be going down in order in the bottom half – however, they erupted to end it.
It began with a walk to Gillman, then Anundsen, Fink, J.T. Baum, Cunningham, Nick Wiggins, B.J. Tucker and Jeff Cicchinelli followed with hits, notably a triple by Cunningham and a single by Cicchinelli that plated two runs.
“Obviously, there’s no way we expected to 10-run two teams,” Anundsen said. “The entire team has to be in it to do what we’re doing. Right now, Curtis is seeing it the best.”
Cunningham, who had seven total bases in three at-bats, made a diving catch of a screaming line drive to his right for the final out in the top of the fourth.
For Chaparral, starter and loser Shawn Pachl weathered the third and appeared to be keeping his team somewhat close before collapsing. The Wolverines never quite got the spark they needed to get going.
“We never put ourselves in a position to do what we do well,” Chaparral coach Steve Eaton said. “We just never put any pressure on (Anundsen). We anticipated that coming in and we had to have baserunners. … A dominating performance like that can be changed, but they took us out of our game, essentially, and we couldn’t hold them down.”
Earlier in the day, Monarch won twice – a 5-0 victory over Heritage behind the three-hit pitching of Tyler Bartsch and an epic 16-12 decision of Grand Junction.
Wade Landowski, Mikey Raudenbush and Joe Manders were some of the Coyotes’ hitting stars, notably Manders, who knocked in six runs against Grand Junction.
In Lakewood, Mountain Vista won two games at All-Star Park, with a rally in the bottom of the seventh in a 2-1 victory over Fort Collins, then a solid 7-2 handling of Grandview.
The Golden Eagles’ Joe Allison threw a five-hitter in the first victory, then Mountain Vista rolled to a 7-0 lead through three innings.
COLUMBINE 11, CHAPARRAL 1
Chaparral 000 01 – 1 3 1
Columbine 031 07 – 11 11 1
Chaparral – Roybal c 2-0-0-1, Serena ss 3-0-1-0, Crowe rf 1-0-1-0, Smigiel 3b 1-0-0-0, Frank 3b 2-0-0-0, McKnight cf 2-0-0-0, Gaudet lf 2-1-0-0, Catts 1b 2-0-1-0, Peterson 2b 2-0-0-0, Pachl p 0-0-0-0, Widham p 0-0-0-0. Totals 17-1-3-1.
Columbine – Cicchinelli ss 4-0-1-2, S. Anundsen lf 3-0-0-0, Gillman c 2-1-0-0, E. Anundsen p 3-1-3-1, Lewis cr 0-1-0-0, Fink 3b 3-2-3-2, Baum cf 3-1-1-2, Cunningham 1b 3-2-2-3, Wiggins dh 3-0-1-1, Hasley cr 0-1-0-0, Tucker 2b 2-1-1-0, Geoghegan rf 0-0-0-0. Totals 25-11-11-11.
E – McKnight, Cicchinelli, LOB – Columbine 2, Chaparral 3. SB – Gaudet, Catts. SF – Roybal. 2B – E. Anundsen, 3B – Cunningham. HR – E. Anundsen, C, solo in second; Cunningham, C, one on in second.
Batteries – Pachl, Widham (5) and Roybal; E. Anundsen and Gillman. W – Anundsen (9-2). L – Pachl. T – 1:23.
MONARCH 5, HERITAGE 0
Heritage 000 000 0 – 0 3 0
Monarch 021 002 x – 5 11 0
Skufca and Neumann; Bartsch and Raudenbush. W – Bartsch (8-0). L – Skufca (6-2). HR – Landers, M, solo in second; Manders, M, solo in sixth. Highlights – Goldstein, M, 4-for-4, 2 RBIs, 2 doubles; Landowski, M, 2-for-3, RBI; Ray, M, 2-for-3, 2 runs scored, RBI, 2 doubles; Smart, M, 1-for-2, double; Bartsch, 3-hitter, 4 BB, 0 K’s.
MONARCH 16, GRAND JUNCTION 12
Grand Junction 001 406 1 – 12 8 2
Monarch 642 013 x – 16 15 0
Starr, Schriener (2), Sawyer (3), Baldwin (4), Early (5), Koepsell (6) and Koepsell and Witsken; Landowski, Tallman (4), Sawicki (5), Bartsch (6), Goldstein (7) and Raudenbush. W – Landowski. L – Starr. HR – Dunn, M, one on in first; Landowski, M, solo in second; Bernal, GK, one ion in fourth; Mander, M, solo in fifth. Highlights – Murray, GJ, 2-for-4, 3 RBIs; Novotny, GJ, 1-for-3, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs; Koepsell, 2 RBIs; Nordine, GJ, 1-for-2, 3 runs scored; Dunn, M, 2-for-3, 2 runs scored; 4 RBIs; Manders, M, 5-for-5, 5 RBIs; Vaughn, M, 2-for-4, 2 runs scored; Landowski, M, 2-for-4, RBI, 3 runs scored; Valenzuela, M, 1-for-3, 2 RBIs.
MOUNTAIN VISTA 2, FORT COLLINS 1
Fort Collins 001 000 0 – 1 5 0
Mountain Vista 000 000 2 – 2 5 0
Ottermann and Tynan; Allison and Davis. W – Allison. L – Ottermann. Highlights – Higgins, MV, 1-for-2, GW RBI; Schugel, MV, 1-for-3, run scored; Beck, MV, 1-for-3, run scored; Daniel, FC, 1-for-3, 2B, RBI; Sakala, FC, 1-for-2, run scored; Hoover, FC, 1-for-3, 2B.
MOUNTAIN VISTA 7, GRANDVIEW 2
Grandview 000 002 0 – 2 6 4
Mountain Vista 124 000 x – 7 6 1
O’Leary, Schlehuber (3), Huddleston (4) and Leonida; Beck, Zamora (6) and Stout. W – Beck. L – O’Leary. Highlights – Cruz, MV, 2-for-2, 2B, SAC, run scored, 2 RBIs; Schugel, MV, 1-for-3, run scored, 2 RBIs; Beck, MV, 1-for-4, 2B, run scored; Tagmyer, 2-for-4, 2 SBs; O’Leary, G, 2-for-3, 2B, RBI, SB.
